News & Updates
Ocean Model Captures Diversity of Marine Microbes
[29-Mar-2007] Scientists at MIT have developed a new marine ecosystem model that allows its populations of phytoplankton to realistically evolve, reflecting the diversity in populations in the natural world. This should lead to a better understanding of the coupling between ocean and atmospheric chemistry. The model makes use of ECCO's ocean state estimate to capture the physical environment in which the ecosystem evolves. The study "Emergent Biogeography of Microbial Communities in a Model Ocean" by Michael J. Follows, Stephanie Dutkiewicz, Scott Grant, and Sallie W. Chisholm was published in today's issue of Science magazine. It is part of the MIT Darwin Project and funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.